What books are you guys reading

Not exactly a book, but I'm reading the Lovecraft collection. Having only had a very basic idea of what his writing was about, it's eye-opening to see how much contemporary media/horror is based off his masterful pieces.

Well I'm rereading Ready Player One and I just finished The Forever War by Joe Halderman.It's very clear reading it that it is basically space Vietnam.

I'll also start Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski. It's technically the third book, but the second book hasn't been translated. I enjoyed the first Witcher book The Last Wish.

I'm not reading anything right now. I have a copy of Game of Thrones sat there, waiting to be read, but I have yet to bring myself to actually read it. I don't normally like fantasy in books, movies and TV. I'm OK with it in a lot of games because many fantasy themed games are huge RPG's that allow a great amount of freedom to play how I want to. That negates much of the blandness of the setting. But in other mediums, I can't get past that. Fantasy settings are boring and bland. It's unoriginal and uninteresting to me.

But people keep going on about Game of Thrones, so I want to read it to see what the fuss is all about. Lots of people have said that if I don't like fantasy, I'll like GoT. I don't necessarily believe them, but I still want to read it to see if it does do anything for me. Every couple of days, I'll pick up the book, stare at the cover a bit, maybe glance at the first page or two, then put it down. I want to read it, but every time I put the book in my hands the I feel "ugh, I can't be bothered with this right now".

I see where you're coming from, but I think if you go into it expecting a cheesy sci-fi filled with over-the-top 80's nostalgia, you'll have a good time with the book. It's not a masterpiece of fiction. The storytelling isn't fantastic and the 80's nostalgia is overwhelming. But I still enjoyed it, because I was expecting all those things going into it. It was a really fun read.

As an update to my previous post, I finished reading Zero Sight today - holy shit, I couldn't put it down. Very enjoyable, almost in spite of its premise and the ending was totally unexpected but way cool all the same. Highly recommended.

Jumping right into Zero Sum, the 2nd book.

I've been really enjoying Charles Stross's stuff lately, I got started with Accelerando, which is licensed under CC-non-derivative and available for free on-line, and liked it enough to start going through the rest of his novels. He's generally the most forward-thinking speculative fiction author writing today, in my opinion. Some of it might be too dense for some people though, if you want something that is just a fun ride. (For the record, I don't subscribe to the more extreme singularity ideas in real life, I just think they make for a good SF book).

I'm about to start Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov.

Right now I'm reading Settling Accounts: Drive to the East by Harry Turtledove.

It's the second book in the THIRD (that's right, third) series that chronicles an alternative history where the South wins the Civil War and gains independence.

Technically, it's actually the fourth. They had a book about the Civil War itself I think, then a series set during World War I, then a series set in between World War I and II, and now the one I'm reading is set during WWII.

I love Turtledove; he's an armchair historian with crazy hair/eyes. Plus his books are downright awesome!

I plan to start reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace soon. But, I've been saying that for the last month. Damn, that book is daunting.

I started reading The Orc King by R. A. Salvatore, because I just started playing Neverwinter and remembered that I'd bought this book a few years back but didn't complete it.

Im gonna be reading Bear Gryll's autobiography,wolf totem, and A hermit in the himalayas in the coming months

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and the fifth novel in the Horus Heresy series, Fulgrim.

Not exactly reading, but I am going to have to read them soon. Halo: Primordium, Glasslands and The Thursday War.
"Mistakes were made, but not by me" which is a psychological book, and I quote "Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions and hurtful acts" and last but not least reading up on drivers exam so I can finally drive my car.

I recently tried to get through King's The Dark Tower series partly because of the number of fans it seems to have around here.

I'm sorry I tried.

What a steaming pile of bore! I've never been a big fan of King's work, and this series just cemented that opinion. I stopped halfway through book five, and I'm surprised I made it that far. At one point the characters mentioned stopping somewhere and assessing the situation for a week and I actually shuddered: one week of book time is easily hundreds of pages of absolutely nothing happening. Slow, slow, slow. Hundreds of pages of sheer boredom, interspersed with the occasional mediocre payoff. OK, the giant, parasite-infected, ancient, robotic bear was cool, but that was one brief moment in a series otherwise mostly consisting of King's lame musings on the nature of life.

It's a shame; there's a lot of potential in the cowboys-meet-fantasy-meet-post-apocalypse world King has created. Too bad he spends most of his time assaulting the reader with dry, shallow platitudes delivered by a completely unlikable protagonist. To say nothing of the prosaic philosophical wankery the last couple of books commit (I read a synopsis, and man am I glad I didn't actually suffer through the final books I mean for an author to introduce themselves as a character who then becomes the crux of the entire story (the main characters have to protect him so he can finish the story) is just... *sigh*)

I'm reading Dune now. I read the first book years ago and enjoyed it, but never bothered with the rest of the series. I'm rectifying that now.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Gulliver's Travels but struggling to continue reading it. After the Giant island it has not held my attention.

Dante's Inferno, and I have The Aeneid lined up. Only got them because I was curious, but I'm enjoying them.

Listening to the audiobooks for the ASoIaF books, just finished A Storm of Swords (phenomenal book) and moving into A Feast For Crows and can't wait to get caught up. Plus Roy Dotrice's voices are generally pretty amazing, though his women all sound like 70-year old men or the exact same people.

I woke up this morning and I was like "Why are Rorie and a mod talking to me?! I don't remember doing anything wrong!" LOL.

Anyway, I was only really thinking about reading it because I heard the guys on Idle Thumbs raving about it. I think I'll go with you on this one, though, Rorie. I just graduated with a Master's in Literature. There's nothing I hate worse than wasting my time on a shitty book.

Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes So far it's pretty amazing, gives a good viewpoint of a history that is not easily found in history classes and the like.

Franz Kafka - Letters to Felice
William Gibson - Pattern Recognition (again) & Spook Country
Haruki Murakami - IQ84

Pecking away at War of Honor. 880 pages, sheesh.

Steven Erikson - The Malazan Book of the Fallen

Austin Grossman - You

Veit Pätzug - Schwarzer Hals Gelbe Zähne

Path of the Seer by Gav Thorpe just arrived...

@jrinswand: To be fair you won't be wasting much time, you can finish it in a couple days.

Idle Thumbs kind of jump-started me back into reading thanks to their book club podcasts. In the last month or so read Cloud Atlas (well, finished it), The Sense of an Ending and The Sun Also Rises, specifically for the podcast and the discussions around them on the Idle Forums. On my own, investigated Chuck Palahniuk and read Fight Club and Snuff (was going to read Pygmy but the broken english hurts my brain, so awkward to read). I started reading Evidence of Things Unseen yesterday and am past the half-way point on A Brief History of Time which has been an intermittent attempt for the past few months (its dense and I'm not very scientifically inclined so a lot to chew on).

Well I dont think comic books count right? Just finished Batman vs Predator , reading Gambit´s (of x men fame) "origin soty".

I just finished up Warren Ellis' Gun Machine and now I just started reading The Years of Rice & Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's an alternative history novel that explores the development of the world if almost all European life fell victim to the Bubonic plague at the end of the 14th century. So far I'm enjoying it, but I really like Robinson's work in general.

Gun Machine was not bad either. It was pulpy and a fairly quick read. It maybe tied up a bit too nicely in the end.

The Templar Trilogy, by Jack Whyte.

I owned the first book for years without reading it, it was pretty good and the fact it's set during The Crusades intrigues me enough to keep me in for three books. Got the second two books for £5 and £2.80 respectively on Amazon, which I was pretty happy about. Books are good.

There's quite a lot of religious conspiracy in there, and you get the feeling it comes from the author, but hey - it's well thought-out and fascinating enough to make you think twice about good ol' Europe and her religions. Recommended!

Just finished Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. Really satisfying conclusion. It easily justifies the amount of key information that is kept hidden from the reader for setup purposes in the first two books. I will definitely be reading more of Abercrombie's books in future.

Right now just plowing through another Michael Connelly boilerplate Harry Bosch murder mystery. Courtroom drama and detective/crime investigation novels are my reading palette cleansers.

Next up: i dunno. I have a pile of books on my kitchen table. I may just close my eyes and make a grab at it, read whatever i touch first.

:D!

Just finished the first book in Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Eye of the World is classic fantasy to a fault, but I liked the world-building and the sheer depth of what feels like is going to be a proper, nations-spanning adventure. I started the second book this week but will likely put it down for a bit to read the new Joe Hill book, NOS4A2, which has been getting some great reviews. I'd also suggest Hill's previous book, called Horns. Good, cracking gothic horror from Stephen King's son.

Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar byRob Goodman and Jimmy Soni

Well, I've been reading manga most of the time recently, right now Volume 16 of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Ciaphas Cain: HERO OF THE IMPERIUM! - by Sandy Mitchell

Recently Finished: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker [enjoyed it]

About to Start: The Fault in Our Stars by Jeff Green

Down the Road: You by Austin Grossman; some manga

A LOT.
peter raven: under fire by michael molloy
a fault in our stars by john green
order of battle: the red army in WWII by some history nut.
2001: a space odyssey by arthur c. clarke
the lonesome dove by larry mcmurty

...and the davinci code, which i'm planning to abondon because it sucks major ass.

hoping to start enders game and invisible monsters in the upcoming future.

I'm usually a pretty slow reader, and I've been gradually working my way through The Name of the Wind, the first of the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss. I dunno, I heard a lot of extremely positive stuff about it, and I read quite a bit of fantasy and am a huge fan of the genre, but something about the book doesn't quite click with me. I like it, but I don't think it's especially well written, and the middle of the book seems really dragged out and not too engaging. I think it sets up a world that in some ways seems really interesting, but in others feel really hoaky - the lengths to which the author went to make magic be like science feels extremely forced, and doesn't add anything to the experience. It's been a solid read, with some occasional good writing and a sense of humour, and I'll almost certainly finish it, but it's currently falling short of the expectations I had for it considering how popular it seems with a lot of fantasy fans.

@sursh: When you start enders game let me know how it is because I've been meaning to read it, I have always heard great things about it

It's a great book. One of my favorites.

I'm currently reading--and like 20 pages from finishing--Gravity's Rainbow. It's pretty incredible, but I'm not totally sure how to describe it. It's kind of difficult? Pretty discursive, at times. It might also be one of the best things I've ever read.

i just finished part one of 'The Stars My Destination' and it's been really good so far!

Before that I read 'The Stand' by Stephen King and I wish I didn't, that book is not worth the time is takes to finish it…

@slay3r1583: There's also a direct sequel to that one and then a third book with a separate story, and they're all pretty good!

I'm currently reading Theft of Swords.

@rorie said:

Ready Player One was the worst book I read last year. The only good thing I can say about it is that I "read" the audiobook version, and Wil Wheaton did a good job on it. Otherwise, completely mystified that people like it. Not only did all the references wear thin, but the story itself was completely predictable.

What didn't you like about the Stand (no spoilers pls)? I'm currently reading 'IT' and it's quickly becoming the best fiction experience I have ever had. Or are you one of those readers that can't stand King because of the 200 pages of character development (the best part)? Almost every book from SK I have read, I have walked out feeling like I know the characters just as well as a friend, how they think, what they look like, their mannerisms and the experiences that make them who they are.

Maybe you should try out his short stories? Skeleton crew is great, I highly recommend "The Monkey".

My thoughts exactly.

I'm currently working through James S. A. Corey's Leviathan Wakes and loving it, really scratching an itch I've had since playing through Mass Effect.

@selfconfessedcynic: I may have to give those two a look

Just started American Gods by Neil Gaiman

@phyrlord: I actually really liked the introduction of many of the characters and the setting was very cool in the beginning but the pace became slower and slower and it felt like it stood complete still for a while about two thirds in. It just felt like it took a wrong turn somewhere halfway in the writing process. Plus, the beast is like 1500 pages long.

I'll gladly give him another chance and try 'The Monkey' some time, he must be famous for some reason!

@horsefactory: 1Q84 is one of my favorite books. Have issues with the second half of it, though. Not sure if that's due to the two halves being translated by different people.

Recently finished In the Heart of the Sea as preparation for Moby Dick. My coworker who loves moby dick recommended it to me since I had started that book in high school

I'm only reading one book right now and that's A feast for Crows in "The Song of Ice and Fire" series. I was reading Dune but I put it on hold for now. I also bought the first book in the "A tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen" series. So looking forward to trying that out eventually.

Financial Engineering: derivatives and financial risk management. It is literally on me knees right now, just taking a break :P